Miguel Cardoso makes special plea to Premier Soccer League which is set to benefit Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has asked the Premier Soccer League to come up with a plan that will ease their fixtures in the 2025/26 season.

Just like last season, Downs are expected to balance both domestic and continental campaigns, which means they will have to play more games within short periods of time.

This is an issue that Cardoso hopes will not be repeated as both Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs chase continental glories.

"What I mean is, last year and this year, we pushed some matches back in order to clean the fixtures. With our expectations of going far in the Champions League, as we are trying to go through the group stages, we can fight for the best position in the Champions League," Cardoso said.

“Anyway, I go directly to what you said, and I wanted to make this comment because, for example, we are trying to play a match next weekend. So, after Pirates [Orlando], we play on Wednesday again against TS Galaxy, and we are going team by team in the PSL to see who can accept to play against us on Sunday. But already we tried four [teams], and no one wants to play," he added.

"Sundowns had a lot of matches ahead, so we play matches in the middle of the week consistently because we believe we could go as far in the Champions League as we did last year."

While explaining why PSL must consider his plea, Cardoso gave an example of how Tunisian teams are granted ample time to play in CAF games.

"We wanted to have the weeks of the Champions League full so that we don't judge our players, and I would remind everybody that when there's a South African team playing in the Champions League, it's not only representing the club or the badge that we have on the jersey but South African football," the former Esperance coach stated.

“It's important that everybody knows that. When we try to clean the weeks from matches so that we can play Champions League on the right stages and be on the path to compete with the biggest teams, because the biggest teams in Africa, they don't play in the middle of the week, never, because their championship is not like that," the Portuguese tactician added.

“I'd like you to remember that I was on that side one year ago when I played the final of Esperance. We didn't ask to change matches because the calendar is done so that the teams don't play in the middle of the week, because they want Tunisian football to take the Champions League seriously, and everybody supporting the team that is there."

Just like Sundowns, Amakhosi are going to play more games in shorter periods after qualifying for the CAF Confederation Cup group stage.

If Cardoso's prayers are granted, then the same is expected to be extended to the Soweto giants.